Sprung Display Case for Dispensing Products

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/379,043, filed on Jul. 19, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/760,119, filed on Apr. 29, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,064,819 issued on Jul. 20, 2021, which is a U.S. National Stage application of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2018/084116, filed on Dec. 10, 2018, which claims priority to United Kingdom Patent Application No. 1720618.6, filed on Dec. 11, 2017, the entire content of all of which is incorporated by reference herein.

The present invention relates to the display of products in retail stores. The present invention provides an improved case for the display of products, particularly heavy products, at an easy to reach height, thereby avoiding the need for consumers to reach down and lift products from the floor.

Sprung display cases for various products have been available for a number of years. Perhaps the most common sprung display case are newspaper bins wherein a stack of newspapers are displayed in a vertical bin on a horizontal sprung platform. The bin is sized and shaped to conform to the size of the newspapers stacked therein. The sprung platform is formed such that the uppermost newspaper of the stack is always held at or about the top of the display case. That is, when a newspaper is removed from the bin the reduction in weight on the platform allows the platform to move a distance towards the top of the bin that is substantially equal to the thickness of the newspaper that has been removed. This is achieved by mounting one or more resilient compressible members, for example a spring, within the bin between a lower surface of the platform and an upper surface of the base of the bin. The resilient compressible member will be of a suitable strength to achieve the required displacement of the platform when a newspaper is removed. In this manner newspapers can be displayed in a simple manner that avoids the need for consumers to bend down and pick a newspaper from the bottom of a bin.

In light of the success of newspaper bins there has been a drive to provide display cases for a more varied range of products. Sprung display cases for various products have been produced with varying degrees of success. There is a particular need to provide sprung display cases for heavy products in order to remove the need for customers to lift the products from floor level or from a shelf. One particular product for which sprung display cases would be considered to be useful is multipacks of beverages. These products are heavy and of relatively standard size, making them ideal for display in a sprung display case. However, to date nobody has been able to produce a resilient and reliable sprung display case for multipack beverages. Currently these products, which are too heavy for most shelving units, are displayed in simple piles or stacks in “stack it up, pile it high” displays.

The necessary height of sprung display units for beverage multipacks and the weight of the products mean that it is not possible to simply mount a horizontal platform on a spring within a chamber in a straightforward manner without additional components. Attempts to construct simply sprung display units in this manner have shown the technical problems with this approach.

shows a first prior art embodiment of a sprung display case for multipack beverages. The casecomprises a vertical chamberopen at an upper end, a horizontal platformslidably mounted within the chamber, and a coil springmounted within the chamberbeneath the platform. In embodiments formed in this manner using conventional coil springsit was found that if the caseis filled more than half full the springwould snake in the manner shown in the Figure. This resulted in the case jamming ceasing to function.

In order to overcome the problems with the embodiment of, the cases were modified to include two springs and central plunger mounted between the two springs. This embodiment is shown in. In effect the single vertical spring is split in two by means of a central platform or plunger. The caseofcomprises a vertical chamberopen at an upper end, a horizontal platformslidably mounted within the chamber, an upper coil springmounted within the chamberdirectly beneath the platform, a central plungerslidably mounted within the chamberat a lower end of the upper coil spring, and a lower coil springmounted beneath the central plunger. The lower coil springis relatively more resilient than the upper coil spring. Both the horizontal platformand the central plungerwere bespoke injection moulded components.

When the caseis loaded to approximately halfway, due to the relative strength of the upper and lower coil springs,substantially all of the compression occurs in the upper coil springand there is little or no compression of the lower coil spring. When loaded further, the lower coil springwould become compressed until the bin was full. The provision of two springs and a central plunger overcame the snaking issues present in the embodiment ofand this embodiment operates satisfactorily.

However, in the embodiment ofthe requirement for two separate springs significantly reduces the capacity of the casecompared to the theoretical capacity of the caseof. Further the provision of two bespoke injection moulded components (the central plungerand the plunger) makes the embodiment ofprohibitively expensive to manufacture. In light of this there is a need for an improved sprung display case that is capable of functioning properly when used with heavy products, such as beverage multipacks, and that is economical to produce in relatively small quantities for specifically sized products.

The present invention provides a sprung display case for dispensing products, the case comprising:

The case of the present invention is advantageous as it provides a sprung display case of relatively simple and cheap construction that is capable of displaying heavy products, such as multipacks of beverages. This is primarily achieved by the combination of a single resiliently compressible member and a tether to prevent over extension of the resiliently compressible member. The use of a tether allows the resiliently compressible member, which may be a coil spring, to be significantly stronger and more resilient than the equivalent member of an apparatus according to the prior art. In particular, the resiliently compressible member of the present invention may be significantly stronger than the coil spring () of the prior art embodiment of. This can allow a case according to the present invention to avoid snaking of the resiliently compressible member, which without a tether would necessarily occur. This is particularly, true if the resiliently compressible member and the tether are arranged such that the resiliently compressed member is restrained by the tether when no products are positioned upon the horizontal platform.

As will be readily understood, the case can be formed in any shape that allows products to be vertically stacked one atop another within the vertical chamber. Generally, as many products are in cuboid packaging it is likely that it will be generally preferred that the chamber has a matching shape and is also substantially cuboid.

In order to minimise the cost of the case of the present invention, it may be preferable that the platform of the case is formed of a suitable sheet material. Examples of suitable sheet material include sheet metals such as stainless steel. Sheet materials are preferred as they are relatively simple and straightforward to form and can greatly reduce the cost of a case that is produced in small volumes, for which the cost of bespoke injection moulded components would be prohibitive.

In order to allow the platform of the present invention to vertically slide within the chamber it is generally necessary that the platform has at least one air hole formed therethrough. This is because, in order for the platform to slide vertically within the vertical chamber it is necessary that air can flow past or through the platform as it is moved vertically. This can be achieved by forming at least one air hole through the platform. In order to allow good air flow through the platform and easy moving of the platform it may be preferable that a plurality of air holes are formed through the platform. As will be readily appreciated it is preferable that air holes are formed through the platform and the platform is sized and shaped such that the air holes are not blocked when products are stacked upon the platform. The at least one air hole may be sized and shaped to provide damping of the movement of the platform within the chamber. In particular, the at least one air hole may be sized such that limited air flow through and around the platform is possible and the limited air flow provides damping when the platform moves.

The resiliently compressible member of the present invention may be any suitable member apparent to the person skilled in the art. However, in the simplest and generally preferred construction the resiliently compressible member is a coil spring. In order to resist snaking as the spring is compressed, it may be preferable that the spring is formed of steel wire having a diameter of at least 8 mm. Coil springs formed of wire having a diameter less than 7 mm have been found to be more susceptible to snaking.

If the resiliently compressible member is a coil spring it is generally preferable that the tether is mounted centrally within the coil spring, so as to extend along a central vertical axis of the spring. This is preferred as when the display case is in use the action of a centrally mounted tether will be to maintain the platform in horizontal orientation and to act against snaking of the spring.

The tether of the present invention may be formed in any suitable manner apparent to the person skilled in the art. In embodiments of the invention the tether may be an inextensible chain or strap.

A case according to the present invention may be sized and shaped to house substantially any appropriate product. Nevertheless, it is believed that the present invention is particularly suitable for use with beverage multipacks, for example multipacks of beverage cans. If the case is used with beverage multipacks it is advantageous that the chamber is sized and shaped to house said products. In particular, the chamber may be sized and shaped to closely conform to the shape formed by multiple identical beverage multipacks being stacked one upon another.

As with existing sprung display cases, it is preferable that the strength of the resiliently compressible member is selected such that the uppermost product stacked on an upper side of the platform is always positioned at or about the upper end of the chamber. In this manner a customer can simply lift the uppermost product out of the upper end of the chamber and the case will then act to move the product immediately below that product to the upper end of the chamber. This can be achieved by selecting the strength of the resiliently compressible member on the basis of the specific product that the display case is to be used to display.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the embodiment shown in the drawings and described below.

A sprung display caseaccording to the present invention is shown in. The casecomprises a vertical chamberopen at an upper end, a horizontal platformslidably mounted within the chamber, a coil springmounted within the chamberbeneath the platform, and a tetherattached at a first end to a lower side of the platformand at a second end to a base of the chamber. The tetheris located centrally within the coil spring. The caseis designed to display multipack beverages.

The platformis formed of sheet metal and has a plurality of air holesformed therethrough to air to pass the platformas it slides vertically within the chamber. The springis formed of steel wire having a diameter of approximately 9 mm. The tetheris a steel chain.

The display casehas a height such that the upper end of the vertical chamberis at a safe lifting height for the average person. When the caseis empty the tetheracts to hold the springin a compressed state and the platformsubstantially at the upper end of the chamber. In particular, the tetherprevents the platformfrom extending out of the upper end of the chamber.

The display caseis operated in the following manner. A plurality of identical beverage multipacks are stacked in the vertical chamber. When doing this the platformwill move vertically down the chamberand the springwill be compressed. The strength of the spring is such that the uppermost of the beverage multipacks will be positioned substantially at the upper end of the vertical chamber. If a customer wishes to purchase a multipack they can then remove the uppermost multipack from the case. When the uppermost multipack is removed the weight acting on the platformand the springwill be reduced and the spring will then act to move the platformupwards. This will move the multipacks positioned on the platformupwards until the next multipack is positioned substantially at the upper end of the chamber.

The airholesformed through the platformallow the platform to move easily along the chamberunder the action of the spring. The size and positioning of the airholesis such that air can still flow when multipacks are positioned on the platform. Further, the airholesare sized such that air flow through and around the platformis limited to damp the movement of the platform. This prevents the movement of the platformbeing too rapid.